Display-rack for hats.



F. E. MEINEL.

DISPLAY RACK FOR HATS.

APPLIUATION FILED Ammz, 1912.

1,071,168. PatenteaAug-2a1913.

17u/enfin" FREDERICK E. MEINEL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

ASSIGNOR TO ILLINOIS SHOW CASE WORKS, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

:DISPLAY-RACK ron HATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A110'. 26,1913.

Application filed April 22, 1912. Serial No.v 692,263.

To all whom may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. MEINEL,`

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in DisplayeR-acks for IIats, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of t-he same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object to produce a simple and novel device for supporting hats in such a manner that they may be housed within a show case and be easily withdrawn from the show case to permit inspection.

A further object of my invention is to produce a simple and novel movable rack on which hats may be laid without dangerof displacement when the rack is moved.

A further object of my invention is to produce a simple and novel rack for supporting a large number of small articles, such as hats, so that they may either be housed within a show case while on the rack or be withdrawn out of the show case and be held in the best position for displaying any particular article which it may be desired to display.

A further object of my invention is to produce a simple and novel display rack for show cases which may be drawn into and out of a show case and be turned into various angular positions to display articles sup-V ported thereby, without detaching the rack from the show case.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding` of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a front elevation of a show case containing a rack made in accordance wit-h a preferred form of my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the units of the rack; Fig. 3 is a side view showing one of the carriers for the rack, and one of the supporting tracks; Fig. 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Fig. 2,' Fig. 5 is a vert-ical section taken through the main cross bar of the rack 4are tracks 2, these being at the point where the central upright member of the rack passes through it; and Fig. 6 is a view lookingtoward the right in Fig. 5, the parts being in slightly different relative vertical positions than in Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing, l represents a show case of any suitable construction and. of any desired size and shape. Within the show case at each side thereof, and about half way between the top and the bottom,

substantially horizontal or being slightly higher at their front ends than at their rear ends. On each track is a suitable carrier 3 adapted to travel lengthwise thereon. The two carriers are connected together by a horizontal bar or tube 4 which causes them to travel together.A Briefiy stated, the carrier illustrated comprises an L-shaped member having two wheels or rollers 5 and 6 on one side of the short arm, and a third roller 7 on the corresponding side of the long arm; the roller 7 being near the free ends of the long arm of Vthe carrier. The rollers 5 and G are spaced apart far enough to permit one of the tracks to be received between them, so that when the parts are lassembled the rollers' and 7 will ride upon the tracks and the rollers 6 will lie beneath the tracks and prevent the carriages from jumping oif. Near the front ends of the tracks may be placed slight depressions 8 into which the rollers 7 drop when the carriages are drawn forward, thus yieldingly holding the carriages in their forward positions. The parts which I have just described may take any desired forms since my invention is not concerned with any particular carriage mechanism, that illustrated being simply one which has heretofore been found to be satisfactory and is disclosed and claimed in Patent No. 961,029 granted June 7, 1910.

Midway between the ends of the bar or tube 4 is a vertical journal bearing open at the top and at the bottom, this being convenient-ly produced by making the member 4 in two pieces having their adjacent ends connected together by means of a coupling 9 having a vertical cylindrical bore 10 therethrough. Passing through and revoluble in the bore l0 in the member 9 is a vertical cylindrical rod or tube 1l, half of which lies above and the other half below the cross bar 4. Any suitable means may be provided for maintaining the vertical position of the sol los

member 11. In the arrangement shown, I

have provided a pin 12 extending throughV the member 11 just above the member 9, the pin resting upon the member 9 and preventing the vertical rod from dropping down. I am enabled to utilize the pin to hold the vertical rod in any desired angular position, by forming across the top of the member 9 radial channels 13 into which the pin is adapted to drop. By making the channels shallow, the rod may be rotated readily by applying su'liicicnt force to cause it to be lifted high enough to allow the pin to ride up out of the channel. The rod 11 is somewhat shorter than the height of the show case so that the carriages may be moved in and out, housing the rod within the show` case or bringing it to t-he front of the show case. On the vertical rod are a series of devices for supporting hats or other articles to he displayed. In the arrangement shown, there are a series of cross arms 14 each of which has midway between its ends a sleeve or collar 15 fitting easily upon the rod 11. The cross arms may be shifted along the rod 11 so as to secure any desired spacing between them, and they may be locked to the rod 11 by any suitable means. At each end of each of the cross arms is another cross arm 17 extending horizontally at right angles to the cross arms 14: and to the main cross bar a forming part of the carriage mechanism. In other words, the members 17 lie parallel with the sides of the show case. The members 17 are slightly shorter than the depth of the show case from the front to the rear, so that they will be completely housed within the show case when t-he carriage mechanism is pushed back. On each pair of cross arms 17 are a series of light rods 18 extending parallel with the cross arms la and having a length somewhat less than the width of the show case. lVhere the apparatus is designed for supporting and displaying hats, as illustrated, the rods 18 are preferably arranged in pairs, the rods of each pair being spaced close enough together to permit a row of hats arranged side by side to be laid upon them. I prefer to have four of the rods 18 in a set so that there may be a single row of hats 1n front of the central rod or standard and a second row behind the same. In the arrangement shown there are nine sets of cross arms with their hat-supporting rods, one arranged above the other, so that there will be nine rows of hats on the front side of the rack and nine on the rear; but it will of course be understood that the number of the parts is immaterial, since it may be varied at will, according to the' size of the show case or to suit other conditions.

Assuming that the rack is filled with hats: it may be pushed back into the case so as to protect the' hats against dust and dirt. When it is desired to examine the hats, the rack may beY drawn out so as to bring the front rows of hats outside of the case and, when it is desired to inspect the hats on the backside of t-he rack, the cent-ral standard is simply turned through an angle of 90 or 180 degrees so as to bring the rearmost rows of hats to the side or to the front. In the same way, when the rack is to be lled, the front rows are first placed in position and then the rack, having been drawn out, is rotated so as to permit the rear rows to be placed in position. The rack is then pushed back in place and the hat-s are housed within the show case until it is desired to produce them for inspection. It will thus be seen that a large number of hats or other articles may be neatly arranged within a protect-ive show case and be immediately accessible for inspection, removal or displacement.

Iith the straight supporting rods for the hats, there is nothing to prevent the hats from slipping around and falling off as the rack is moved in and out or. revolved. I have therefore devised a simple expedient for yieldingly holding each hat in position so as to prevent displacement under ordinary conditions of handling the rack. To thisend I have made in each of the rods 18 a series of upward bends 19 spaced apart far enough to permit each hat to be placed over one of the bends in a rod and the corresponding bend in the companion rod. By this arrangement the hats are not only held against displacement but they may be spaced apart at regular intervals so that the lled case will present a neat appearance. If the rack is drawn in or pushed out rapidly, the hats will tend to remain stationary so as to permit the rack to slide out from under them, but the upward bends in the rods act as vertical shoulders or projections which strike against the inside of either the front or the baclrof the hats and prevent further relative movement. There is never any danger of rotating the rack at as high a speed as may be obtained when the racliis drawn in or out and therefore the inclined ends of the curved portions o-f the rods are sufficient to hold the hats from moving outwardly along the rods.

The hat-supporting rods may of course be mounted upon the supporting arms in any suitable way, but I prefer, for the sake of cheapness and simplicity, to make the supporting arms of fiat strips set on edge and having in. their upper edges notches 2O which receive notched portions 21 of the rods 18. The notches in the rods 18 are preferably in the sides of the rods so that when the rods are assembled upon the supporting arms they are held against rotation, thus maintaining the rods in the positions wherein the upward bends 19 are on top. In this way the rods are simply held in iield of use; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements, regardless of t-he uses to which they are to be put, which come Within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In combination, a show case, approximately horizontal tracks at opposite sides of the case and about half way between the top and the bottom, carriage mechanism mounted on said tracks, a vertical rod mounted on said mechanism at about the center of the case and extending from the top to the bottom of the case, and supporting devices for articles to be displayed distributed along said rod.

2. In combination, a show case, approximately horizontal tracks at opposite sides of the case and about half Way between the top and the bottom, carriage mechanism mounted on said tracks, a vertical rod mounted on said mechanism at about the center of the case and extending from the top to the bottom of the case, said rod being revoluble about its own axis, and supporting devices for articles to be displayed distributed along said rod.

3. In combination, a show case, approximately horizontal tracks at opposite sides of the case and about half way between the top and the bottom, carriage mechanism mounted on said tracks, a vertical rod mounted on said mechanism at about the center of the case and extending from the top to the bottom of the oase, and a series of cross arms distributed along said rod for supporting articles to be displayed.

4. A rack comprising a cross bar, a vertical bar revolubly supported between its ends at the middle of the cross bar, transverse frames distributed along said vertical bar above and below said cross bar, and wheeled carriers at the ends of said cross bar for supporting the same.

5. In combination, a show case, approximately horizontal tracks at opposite sides of the case and about half Way between the top and the bottom, carriage mechanisms mounted on said tracks, a cross rod extending between said mechanisms and connected thereto at the front ends thereof so as to project beyond the case when the carriage mechanisms are in their extreme forward positions, a vertical rod revolubly mounted on said cross bar and extending from thel top to the bottom of the case, and supporting devices for articles to be displayed distributed along said rod above and below the cross bar.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK E. MEINEL. Witnesses:

WM. F. FREUDENREroI-I, RUBY V. BRYDens.

Copies of this patent maybe obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

